Family History
by abyss1826
Summary: An orphaned meta in Gotham reveals that there are more places like Cadmus in the world, and they have a bigger connection to someone on the team than anyone could have thought. (AU where the Meta-Gene experiments are a lot closer to home, and come to the light far sooner than five years after the first season. Timeframe so far is around 2012.)
1. Chapter 1

The Gotham train yard was a damp muddy place, smelling of coal and crude oil and rust. Shadows of old out of commission tankards loomed in the near dark, leaking their filth into the soiling ground.

" _I bet Ivy'd really hate this place,"_ Robin thought to himself as he and his mentor crouched in wait. Penguin was supposed to get a weapons shipment from Blüdhaven. Batman had other ideas.

Eventually the distant rattle of the train they were waiting for could be felt through the rails, the screeching of the brakes heard. Cobblepot's men came out from their trucks as Batman alerted Gordon.

They intervened before anything could be unloaded.

In the midst of gunfire a child's cry rang out, loud as any explosive. It made the last few of Penguin's men pause in surprise, giving the duo the opening they needed to take the rest of them down before the GCPD showed up.

"Robin, investigate that noise while I tie them up," Batman ordered, and the boy wonder flipped up onto a boxcar to see if he could locate the source of the ongoing noise. It wasn't particularly difficult, but it surprised him. Hell, hearing a child crying in the _train yard_ of all places was surprising, but he didn't let it show. Below and across from him, a row of cars away from the fight, was a girl about his age with long golden hair, sitting in an open car with her legs dangling above the ground. She was layered like an onion. Black top with an unbuttoned red and green plaid shirt that looked too long, covered by a worn black leather jacket. Her jeans were ripped in the knees, and her gym shoes looked like they were falling apart. Across her she had a blanket tied. Near it, the culprit of the noise: a two year old mess of dirty skin and black hair, momentarily unbundled as the girl bounced it on her knee and muttered things. Sitting next to them was a large brown backpack. It was clear they had been on the road for a while.

Robin had not made a sound at his discovery, but her eyes shot up and met his regardless. They were sapphires in silver setting, rimmed by long dark eyelashes and brows. The breath caught in his throat. Her eyes looked like his mother's.

The child stopped crying, lolling it's head around to look at him as well.

"R!" it shouted, pointing vaguely at him. The girl's gaze dropped from him to the child in her lap, then went back to him.

"Yes, he does have a letter R on him doesn't he? Good job kid," she said softly, and he read her lips. She met his eyes again with a challenging stare, tucking the toddler back into the sling across her front before putting the backpack on her shoulders. Robin felt the metal of the rail car give behind him, and the way her eyes flicked past him he knew his mentor was there.

Good.

He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. If he followed what little he had by Bruce's example he'd have another sibling.

"The train yard isn't the safest place to be," Batman advised, looking down at the girl. She scowled.

"I had no intention of staying."

With that, they watched her leave.


	2. Chapter 2

She shouldn't have been there. They didn't even know she was there until they ran to the bottom flat of the condemned building where she had hidden since she heard them bust in. Joker's gang had people hostage on the first floor from a hijacked bus. The place was rigged to blow when the dynamic duo showed up, and everyone split. Robin disabled the bomb and untied everyone upstairs while his mentor pursued the ones responsible. He heard gunshots from below as the sound of fighting resumed.

A child screamed.

Doors slammed against their stoppers on the floor below.

The sound of people being thrown into walls doubled its pace, and the firing ceased.

When Robin leaped down the stairs to meet back up with his mentor he was met first with the blonde haired girl, who tried to push past him. Batman was too close behind her. He grabbed the hand hold of her backpack to stop her from going further.

"You need to go to the hospital," he said sternly.

Robin looked her up and down. She had a bullet wound in her left thigh, her jeans beginning to soak with the blood. A hole in the right shoulder of her jacket showed proof of another one as well. She grit her teeth.

"I'm fine," the girl spat. The bundle across her chest sniffed.

"Bullet wounds kind of disqualify people from being fine," Robin noted, and she shot him a nasty glare.

"Well I guess I'm quite the exception then," the girl retorted icily.

"We can take you to a friend who won't ask questions," Batman stated, "I'm not going to let you go without getting those treated."

"I can treat them perfectly fine myself."

"That isn't an option."

The wind picked up, whistling through the broken windows.

"I wasn't asking you for options."

"I wasn't giving you a choice."

She spun around, fist aimed at his jaw. He blocked it easily, but a sharp wind knocked him and Robin over, giving her an opening to escape. Doors slammed shut behind her as she glided with a pocket of air under her feet, up the back stairway out to the alley, where she disappeared into the Gotham Skyline.

"So we're just going to let her get away?" Robin asked as they got into the batmobile.

"No, we're going to follow the tracker I placed on her backpack."

"And do what when we find her exactly? She doesn't seem very willing to cooperate," the boy muttered, watching the quickly moving red dot on the computer.

"She has to have some reason to avoid hospitals and clinics. We find out what that is, and if worst comes to worst we have Alfred treat her."

"And then what? Just let her be? She's a meta. There has to be something for us to do."

"I'm not sure yet."

They sped around a corner and into an alley where the point had stopped. She was leaning on a brick wall, under a fire escape when she saw them. She cursed, jumping to climb to the platforms above her, but Robin used his grappling gun to get there first.

"You know, it isn't often you see someone so against getting medical care," he quipped, the two standing across from each other on the second floor support. He could see the clear blue eyes of the child poking it's head out if the blanket it was held in.

"Robin!" the child yelled, and he smiled. The girl leaned her back against the brick wall. She took a deep breath, and kicked him hard in the knee, launching herself over the rail and slowing her descent with a buffet of wind. Batman caught her under the arms, holding her away from himself knowing that she couldn't flail without posing a threat to the child. She glared daggers at him. The position was almost amusing.

"Why are you refusing to receive medical attention?"

"None if your business."

He scowled, and she scowled back. She reminded him of Jason.

"I am trying to _help_ you, and that makes it my business."

"I never asked for your help."

"Are you running from someone?"

"Maybe."

"Who?"

"No one you can help me with."

"Is that why you won't go to a hospital?"

"I have plenty of reasons to not go to a hospital. It being _unnecessary,_ for one."

He sighed, and carried her to the batmobile, placing her on the bench seat in the back before quickly closing and locking the door.

She glared at him through the rear view mirror once the four of them were off. Robin was the first to break the silence.

"What's the baby's name?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to see the child staring at him between the front seats. She was free from the blanket hammock, sitting on the girl's lap in a dirty oversized purple shirt and pair of orange leggings.

"Mary. She's my sister."

"And what's your name?"

"Evelyn."

"Do you not have a last name?" he joked. She paused.

"Johnson."

"Do your parents know where you are?" Batman asked.

"Unless they've been watching me from above, no."

Silence fell over the car, save for the sound of Mary making spit bubbles. Evelyn wiped her sister's mouth with the side of her unbuttoned shirt.

"How old is she?" Robin asked, trying to keep a conversation going with Evelyn so she wouldn't just pass out.

"She'll be three in winter."

"When's her birthday?"

"January. The 10th."

"When's your birthday?"

"March 20th."

Robin paused, and she glanced at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered shaking his head. "Where are you from?"

"Indiana."

"How'd you get to Gotham?"

"Boxcars, didn't you see me, like, a month ago or something at the train yard?"

"Yeah."

The sound of water crashing into the roof of the car was sudden and gone just as quickly, making the girls in the back jumped. Robin watched as Mary's face morphed from startled, to angry, to upset, little tears welling up in reddening eyes.

"No no no no," Evelyn muttered, bouncing the child on her knee with a pained expression her face. Soon they were parked and Mary was wailing. Batman was quickly getting a headache.

Robin had to stifle a laugh when he saw the look on Alfred's face at hearing the noise and then seeing Evelyn.

"I do hope you don't plan on making a habit of this," the man said, putting on a domino mask before the guest could see his face and sending a look his ward's way.

"I didn't ask him for help," Evelyn muttered, limping as Alfred steered her to where the medical station was.

"And why, may I ask, did you bring her here instead of say, a hospital? I'm sure they are perfectly capable of dealing with bullet wounds, this is Gotham after all."  
"She refused to go to a hospital or clinic. This was the only option."

"That isn't really true since you had the option of _leaving me be_ ," Evelyn said sourly.

"And what exactly would you have done if we did that?" Batman asked, irritated, "You would have had no way to take the bullets out,-"

"Dude I have fingers,"

"You can't take a bullet out with your bare hands," Robin exclaimed, "The wound will get infected!"

"Yeah well then you push out the puss until it's drained and then steal a bottle of liquor from the passed out drunk guy at the corner of the alley and you disinfect it!" she shot back, "I've dealt with this shit before okay? I have not survived this long to die from fucking gangrene I can take care of myself!"

"Exactly how many times have you been shot, miss?" Alfred asked, sterilizing the tools he was going to need. Evelyn shifted awkwardly.

"I lived in Chicago before this, things happen." She looked down at Mary, and then at Alfred. "Is anyone going to take her from me or do you plan on making my sis a doctor early?"

Robin came over to relieve her of the girl.

"Support her waist!" Evelyn hissed as the boy picked Mary up under the arms. He hastily adjusted himself under her withering glare. Mary patted the side of his face with her hands, fingers rubbing at the edge of his mask curiously and pulling at his cheeks. The sight made Evelyn snort. It wasn't long before Jason could be heard coming down the stairs.

"You should be in bed" Batman stated, sitting at the computer.

"So should you."

The Bat smirked slightly.

"What were you up doing?"

"Reading," Jason replied, eyebrows rising at the sight of Dick holding the baby and rising further when he noticed the girl sitting at the medical table, back facing him. "You brought some people home?"

"I won't be staying long, of that's what's bothering you kid," Evelyn replied as Arthur took the bullet out of her shoulder. The man commented on how most people wouldn't be nearly so awake after two bullets and twenty minutes worth of blood loss. She replied that she wasn't most people. Batman put down 'regeneration' as a possible power in the file he was writing for her.

"What's your name?" Jason asked.

"Evelyn Johnson."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Is the kid yours?"

"She's my sister," Evelyn said sternly. "Her name is Mary." The child in question was silently dozing off on Dick's shoulder, drooling slightly.

"How'd you get hurt?"

"I was shot for asking someone too many questions," she said slyly, twisting at the waist and looking over her shoulder him. Jason frowned, looking at her and then looking at Dick.

They had the same eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

She woke up with a panic, in a hospital bed and gown, in a large dark, damp cavern. She got up quickly, tearing out the IV filled with -who cares what- and making her eyes adjust to the dark. Where was Mary. She couldn't feel her near. Fear made her throat and chest tight. She had to find her they couldn't be apart if they were apart and _they_ found her-

"Evelyn?" a man asked from behind, and she spun around to face him, wind swirling at her feet prepared to either flee or attack. He took a step back, giving her space. He put up his hands as well, making himself as non-threatening as someone in black armor, cape and eared cowl can possibly hope to make himself. "Evelyn, you are in the batcave, your sister Mary is upstairs sleeping. You're both safe here."

The night's events came back to her, and she remembered what she had told them.

"How long was I out?"

"About two hours."

" _More than enough time,"_ she thought.

"You need more rest," Batman continued, "I'll get you another IV." He turned away.

"That won't be necessary."

He paused and looked at her.

"Why not?"

"I'm fine now. Mary and I can leave."

The man sighed.

"Even if you've healed, you're going to need to sleep. Just stay here a while longer." She was silent. "Agent A will be down here with breakfast when you wake up again. Please do not go anywhere." With that, he left, and she stayed.

But she didn't stay in the cave. She followed up the stairs, floating on silent air, waiting until about an hour later when she could feel that he was somewhere else, nowhere near where the door at the top of the stone steps lead to. She opened it, air molecules cushioning hinges so nothing made a sound. It lead to a work room, office sort of place. Curious, she looked at the papers scattered in a semi-organised fashion on the desk. Her eyes widened at the signatures. This meant nothing good for her.


	4. Chapter 4

Evelyn was surprisingly compliant the next day, mostly silent. But Batman noticed the way she studied them, Robin in particular, when they were in the cave with her and Mary. While Evelyn was good at hiding her feelings through her facial expressions, her body language told him all he needed to know. Why the hell she would be sad when looking at his partner he had no clue, but he intended to find out more about her regardless. He acted on this intent after Robin left to spend time with the team before training.

"Evelyn?"

She looked up from where she was sitting with Mary stacking wooden blocks Alfred had taken down from the attic.

"I want you to tell me about what you're running from."

She sighed and adjusted a block that had turned, threatening to topple what was stacked on it onto its tiney builder.

"Last night after you left I went up the stairs and found that office."

"What?!"

"Which is the only reason I'm going to tell you this so put your rage on hold for like, ten minutes because this is going to take a history lesson or two's worth of context."

He angrily sat on the ground next to them as she continued to stack towers with Mary.

"Back during World War 2 when people were fleeing Europe human experimentation was also making its way through the cracks. One of the more popular black market science facilities for human trafficking decided to fund an experiment investigating what the lead scientist called the 'meta gene'. His theory was that some humans have a section of junk DNA, that under certain environmental stressors, situations, or stimuli, will become active and form into a specific ability tailored to that individual. He wanted the cause the mutation if that junk gene in a family line, and see if over generations offspring of the original individuals would develop powers. The ones chosen for the experiment were two Romani couples who had been trying to flee to America. Their kids had enhanced agility and strength but nothing else promising. Unfortunately for the facility they managed to escape, and flee to America like their parents had intended to do. There they found a traveling circus and joined another Romani family as the man's brother and sister in law. The two became Mary and John Grayson under fake documents."

Bruce was dumbstruck.

"And who does that make you?" he asked. He already knew the answer.

"The legally dead twin found in a ditch killed by Zucco's men a week after running out of the the tent."she said bluntly, and Bruce remembered how hopeful Dick had been that his sister would come back before they found the body. Dick had been right all along, he supposed, seven years later.

The two sat in silence for a long time before Karla Grayson spoke again.

"The American branch of the facility payed Zucco's men to target the Grayson family and kidnap at least one of us. I'm the one they got. They cloned my body and used it as a dummy to cover their tracks."

"What happened to you?"

"I just so happened to be more than anything they could have hoped for," she said bitterly. "Instead of developing one meta gene from the junk DNA I continued to develop more and more regardless of whether or not I could actually use or control what I have the potential for. Then they started to put my mutated genes into other people just for fun to see what happened. They developed shit too. About two years ago In January I staged a huge breakout. All of the people who were trafficked were able to get back to where they came from and get legal help but everyone in my division were kids of people who worked there or didn't have any documentation to begin with. It wasn't until recently that I realized they could target Dick for the same shit they did to me and came to Gotham to check up on him."

"Why didn't you come here to see him immediately?" Bruce asked, shocked.

"You're not telling him I'm here Wayne. He doesn't need to be pulled into this. It's best if he doesn't know."

"It's best if he doesn't know that his sister is alive and well?!"

"Yes," she said sadly. "When our family died he went after Zucco. If he finds out what happened to me history is bound to repeat itself, and that water is deep and filled with terrors I don't want him to endanger himself with. I expect you would want the same. You are Not Going to tell him,"

"You can't expect him to not find out on his own. You're identical. Now that I know it's even more obvious but it won't take him long to realize that what he sees in the mirror is the same as what he sees looking at you. Bleaching your hair will only go so far."

Karla scowled, and then looked at Mary.

"She is mine, actually," she said quietly. Bruce felt slightly ill.

"Who's the father?" he asked after a moments pause.

"No one," she said, setting her jaw. "Oh the miracles that science can bring about." Her voice dripped with bitter sarcasm. Alfred came the rest of the way down the stairs when he heard their conversation end, though he knew both of them knew he had been there the whole time. He only wanted to give them space before bringing down lunch.

"Shall I prepare a guest room upstairs then?" he asked as Bruce sat down at the computer.

"Yes. He's going to find out anyway. I just hope she decides to tell him before I do it for her," he said, making the last sentence louder to be clear that Karla would hear it. She shot a glare in his direction. He smirked.


End file.
